The Ballad of Moments
by The Professional Otaku
Summary: A series of One-shots.


Otaku Pursuit

Natsuki's PoV

I smiled to myself as Akiko stumbled down the steps of our apartment, an evil, secretive, sort of smile. She yawned and rubbed her eyes. "Didj'ou make coffee?" she slurred tiredly. I pointed wordlessly to the kitchen. I knew she wouldn't be a fully functional human being until she'd had at least half a pound-or 8 ounces or half a cup-of sugar in her system. I normally had that amount in one cup of coffee, never mind the six my mornings and days normally required. Which is why it was abnormal to see me up and about before my sister, but I had a good reason this morning. I checked my watch. Afternoon.

My male friend, Beyond, was coming over, along with Akiko's boyfriend, L, to play Otaku Pursuit, a board game I ordered on Amazon. It was basically the same thing as Disney Trivial Pursuit, but anime themed. I thought it was the best thing ever and was hyped to play it. My sister noticed as she sat down across from me at the table. "You're in a good mood today," she remarked drily. "Did something happen with Beyond?"

I blushed at her insinuation. "Yes, but not anything you're thinking of." I leaned forward and snagged a King-Size Kit-Kat from the bowl of sweets in the center of the table. "He and L will be here around 1500."

She spluttered and coughed on her coffee. "Sorry," she laughed. "I must not have heard you right. _When?"_ She glared at me, so I chose my next words carefully.

"You heard me bitch. I said they'll be here in an hour. Problem?" I glared right back at her. She scowled and muttered darkly to herself. Something about the Death Note-which we had confiscated from Light Yagami, better known to the world as Kira-and knowing my true name. "Yeah, you can try that. It doesn't work, remember? The whole 'I'm immortal' bit? Have some more coffee; you must not be fully awake if you didn't remember that." I shook my head. "To be fair, I _did_ try and wake you up earlier, but your dumb ass stayed up so late watching anime last night, you wouldn't budge! This is why you have a set bedtime!" I said, feeling like a distressed mother.

She pinched her nose. "If I wanted to be lectured all the time, I would've stayed at Wammy's House, with Roger." I fell silent. "But _noooo_ , _you_ had to go and chase down the fucking _serial killer_ and _nearly. Die._ " She spat venomously. "You have _no_ room to be reprimanding me about being home late. In fact, you _ran away_ from home and never came back!" She lapsed into angry silence, then visibly perked up, so I knew the coffee had kicked in. "Did you say L is coming?"

I facepalmed. "Yes, Onee-chan, L-sama is coming, along with Beyond-kun."

She dismissed the extra information with a wave of her hand. "Forget him, when does L get here?"

"At 1500." I sighed, exhausted after that whole ordeal. "You'd better go get ready, and I'd better have another coffee…"

-One hour later-

"Okay!" I said, excited. "I'm sure you're all wondering why I've called you here today."

"You ordered Otaku Pursuit on Amazon-" Beyond started.

"-and want us to play it with you." Finished L, who was sitting next to Akiko.

I groaned playfully. "Gods…you can't keep _secrets_ from the smartest people in the world…Wait…how did you know I bought it on Amazon?!" I asked Beyond.

He stared at me. "You used _my credit card_ to do it!" he exclaimed. I giggled.

"Oops…my bad. Anyway, it'll be me and you versus them, agreed?" Everyone nodded, completely used to putting up with my childish antics by now. "And we roll for first move." I rolled the die, which was Scout Regiment Green, and it came out 4. "Beat that!" I challenged proudly. Akiko rolled a six.

"Guess I go first," she said nonchalantly. She rolled again. "2…What category do you want?" she questioned L, who shrugged. There were six categories of questions, each with a color. Heroes and Heroines was blue, Villains was Red, Places was green, Props was orange, Ethereal Beings was purple, and the True/False questions were brown. "I think I'll go with…green." I drew the first card, the red ones, which were hard. "Hang on, why do I have to get a hard question right from the get go?!"

"Because you're more of an otaku than I am." I stated bluntly before reading the green question on the card. "In Case Closed, where is High School Detective Harley Hartwell from?"

"Osaka," she answered immediately. She grinned slyly and took the die. "Asking me about my favorite character…honestly." She rolled "4. Purple next."

I read off a different card, since the other card was entirely about Harley. On the new card was a picture of Hanzo Urushihara, better known as Lucifer, from The Devil is a Part-Timer?! "What is my true name and what am I?"

"Isn't he a human?" asked L quietly.

"No, his name's Lucifer. And he's a…demon? Right?" Akiko looked at me hopefully.

"Nope, fallen angel." I grinned widely. "He's _my_ favorite character." She scowled and passed me the die. As much as she put on airs about hating all the crap I buy, I knew she loved it, and could get even more fired up about a game than me. I rolled a 6, right from the get-go. "What color pie do you want to get first?" I asked Beyond, who shrugged.

"You two are the ones who watch anime obsessively. I only do it to pass the time. You pick." He said nonchalantly.

"Okay," I muttered, a bit disappointed the guys weren't getting into it. "Then I pick...red." I moved our little pink limo (from Blue Exorcist) to the red pie space, before looking to L expectantly, since he held the card, a red one.

Monotonously, L said, "What is my true name?" referring to the pictured villain. A certain Egyptian thief with white hair and moonlight-colored eyes.

I smirked. "Akefia Bakura." Akiko glared at me.

"Are you fucking kidding me?! You get a question about _Bakura_ for a _pie?!"_ She protested. "No, pick a different card."

"Kiko-chan," L said, looking at her with panda-like eyes he knew she couldn't resist. "They answered the question right, fair and square."

I stuck my tongue out at my older sister. "Yeah, fair and square. Gimme that." I snatched the red pie away from her, and Beyond chuckled. "What?" I asked defensively.

"Nothing!" he said quickly. "I didn't say anything." He was still smiling, repressing the urge to laugh.

I pouted. "You thought I was being childish," I said, observing him and his body language. "And that it's only a game, so I shouldn't get so worked up, even though you think it's adorable."

He laughed again. "If you knew, why ask?" he stated rhetorically, then ruffled my hair, which I had loose around my shoulders. "You're right about that. It's just a game. Don't get so worked up."

"Besides," Akiko added. "You bought it, didn't you?"

"Using _my_ credit card," Beyond added, poking me in the side. I squirmed a little.

" _Meaning_ ," Akiko interjected, "that it's not going anywhere. It'll be here for us to play other times, so it doesn't matter."

"Yeah," I reluctantly agreed, "but Imma win this one anyway." I baited her.

Sure enough, she rose to the challenge. "In your dreams," she snapped. "Everyone knows _I'm_ the one that got _you_ into anime, therefore, I am the sempai, and I will win."

"You're only sempai 'cuz you're older," I told her, rolling and moving Mephisto's pink limo to a blue space. "Heroes and Heroines." I told her.

She drew, and the picture was of a tall, lanky, blue haired boy holding a fountain pen. "'My partner refers to me as Saiko. What is my true name?"

I groaned. "You need his full name, don't you?" She nodded. "Aw, crud….okay, Mashiro is part of it…I know that much." I was silent, before groaning loudly and scratching my head with both hands in frustration. "I've read it! Why don't I know this?!"

She smirked. "Want me to tell you?" I nodded miserably. "Moritaka. Moritaka Mashiro." I groaned again.

"I _knew_ that!"

-After several hours of this-

"Okay," Akiko said. "This is for the win. You have all six pies, you need to answer this last question." She looked at L. "Props, right?" He nodded. She drew a new card and read off the purple question, props, because that's what they thought we were worst at. The picture on the card was of Allen Walker, from D. Gray-man, with his Crown Clown sword in hand. "What is the name of the Innocence piece held by Lavi the Bookman?"

I gaped. If anything, I would've expected it to ask about Mugen, Kanda's Innocence, or the Crown Clown held by Allen, but not _Lavi's._ Maybe the Dark Boots that Leenalee wore. "Isn't it Mugen?" Beyond asked me. "That's the sword you're always going on about…"

I shook my head. "No, that's Kanda's. Lavi has a hammer." I groaned and ran my fingers through my bright red hair. "Mshfutyebfgsjfywfjsg!"

"I think it's safe to say we don't know." Beyond said, grabbing my shoulders. Apparently, he could see that I was about to launch myself at Akiko across the table-sister or no. "Just tell her the answer."

"Iron Hammer," she said, smirking. "Guess it's our turn~" she sang, grabbing the dice and rolling the _exact_ number she needed to get to the center for the last question. With four geniuses on two equal teams, the game had been pretty evenly matched, and we had all gotten our pies at the same rate. She moved the little Lord Death from Soul Eater that was her piece to the center. "Last question please," she requested smugly.

I drew a red card angrily. The picture on the back was of Morgiana, the pink-haired warrior girl from Magi. "What clan am I from, and where was that famous clan located."

"Easy, the Fanalis, and they were hunted down on the Dark Continent." L said, surprising everyone. We stared at him. "What? I never said I _didn't_ like anime." He said, picking up Lord Death. "And I believe we win, Yumi-chan."

I sat there in shock as Beyond sighed and cleared the table for me. "It's just a game." He said, grinning. "If you want, I'll play it with you sometime."

I pouted. "S'not the same. You don't watch anime."

"Yes I do." I looked up at him. "What do you think I _did_ on the days I was given computer access? Or when you were working the Kira case and I hadn't been invited yet? I watched it when I was little, too."

"So why didn't you help?" I demanded. He shrugged.

"It was fun seeing you getting so worked up, and I hadn't seen some of those." He put the game on the highest shelf in the house. He _knew_ I couldn't reach that one.

Beyond ruffled my hair again as he walked out. L and Akiko had left a half-hour earlier, to go to a casino or something, I think they said. I had a bad feeling about the whole thing, especially since Akiko had a problem with gambling and drinks being under the same roof.

Which is why I didn't play poker with her anymore.

But that was another story.


End file.
